Existential & Humanistic Theory

Question 1

victor frankl

Answer 1

Man’s Search for Meaning. emphasized “the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of curcumstances, to choose one’s own way.” emphasized freedom, responsibility, meaning, search for values

Question 2

Third School of Viennese Psychoanalysis

Answer 2

founded by frankl.

Question 3

Logotherapy

Answer 3

developed by frankl. “therapy through meaning” central themes: life has meaning, central motivation for living is the will to meaning; we have freedom to find meaning; we must integrate body, mind, spirit to be fully alive.

Question 4

rollo may

Answer 4

Theology degree from Union. Influenced by Tillich. “The Meaning of Anxiety.” “Love and Will.” helped translate key existential concepts into psychotherapeutic practce in the U.S. in europe

Question 5

Rollo May believed psychotherapy should be…

Answer 5

aimed at helping people discover the meaning of their lives and should be concerned w/ the problems of being rather than with problem solving

Question 6

irvin yalom

Answer 6

group psychotherapy. 4 “givens of existence” or ultimate concerns: freedom & responsibility, existential isolation, meaninglessness, death. different therapy must be designed for each client.

Question 7

existential therapy best described as

Answer 7

a philosophical approach that influences a counselor’s practice. more a way of thinking, or an attitude, than a particular style of practicing

Question 8

goal of existential therapy

Answer 8

assist clients in exploration of the existential “givens of life”

Question 9

grounded on the assumption that

Answer 9

we are free and therefore responsible for our choices and actions. we are the authors of our lives, and we design the pathways we follow.

Question 10

power of the individual

Answer 10

once individuals recognize their role in creating their own life predicament, they also realize that they, and only they, have the power to change the situation

Question 11

The European existential perspective focused on…

Answer 11

human limitations and tragic dimension of life… largely as a result of devastation from WWII.

Question 12

kierkegaard

Answer 12

creative anxiety, despair, fear, dread, guilt, nothingness

Question 13

nietzsche

Answer 13

death, suicide, will

Question 14

heidegger

Answer 14

authentic being, caring, death, guilt, individual responsibility, iloation

Question 15

sartre

Answer 15

meaninglessness, responsibility, coice

Question 16

buber

Answer 16

interpersonal relationships, I/thou perspective in therapy, self transecndence

Question 17

kiergegaard 2

Answer 17

angst. addressed role of anxiety and uncertainty in life. existential anxiety associated w/ making basic decision about how we want to live, not pathological. anxiety is the “school in which we are educated to be a self.” believed that “sickness unto death” arises when we are not true to ourselves. becoming human is a project, and our task is not so much to discover who we are as to create ourselves

Question 18

nietzsche 2

Answer 18

humans are not rational, but are creatures of well. located values w/in individual’s “will to power.” if we release ourselves by giving free rein to our will to power, we tap our potentiality for creativity and originality.

Question 19

heidegger 2

Answer 19

phenomenological existentialism. we exist “in the world,” not as beings apart from the world. moods and feelings are a way of understanding whether we’re living authentically or inauthentically constructing life around others’ expectations. view of human history does not focus on past events, but motivates indivudals to look forward to “authentic experiences” yet to come.

Question 20

buber 2

Answer 20

less individualistic. we humans live in a kind of betweenness; that is, ther is never just an I, but always an other. The I, the person who is the agent, changes depending on whether the other is an it or a Thou. emphasized importance of pressence, which has 3 functions: enables true i/thou relationships, allows for meaning to exist in a situation, enables an individual to be responsible in the here and now.

Question 21

binswanger

Answer 21

holistic model of self; addresses relationship btwn person and environment.

Question 22

existential analysis emphasizes

Answer 22

subjective and spiritual dimensions of human existence

Question 23

medard boss

Answer 23

applied heidegger’s notions to therapeutic pactice. integrated freud’s methods w/ heidegger’s concepts

Question 24

“dasein”

Answer 24

“being-in-the-world.” pertains to our ability to reflect on life events and attribute meaning to these events.

Question 25

sartre 2

Answer 25

humans are more free than earlier existentialists believed. existence of a space-nothingness- btwn whole of our past and the now frees us to choose what we will. our values are what we choose.

Question 26

sartre on "bad faith"

Answer 26

"ican't change now b/c of my past conditioning" is an excuse. we are condemned to be free.

Question 27

James Bugental

Answer 27

life-changing psychotherapy. coined "existential-humanistic" psyychotherapy. cultivation of client and therapist presence. developed interventions to assist client in deepening inner exploration, or searching. therapist's primary task involved helping clients make new discoveries about themselves in the moment.

Question 28

Bugental on resistance

Answer 28

resistance not to therapy per se, but to being fully present both during therapy and in life. part of the self-and-world construct -- how a person understands his or her being and relationship to world at large

Question 29

bugental: life-changing psychotherapy

Answer 29

the effort to help clients examine how they have answered life's existential questions and to invite them to revise their answers so they can live more authentically.

Question 30

emmy van deurzen

Answer 30

existential therapy is not designed to "cure" people of illness in the tradition of the medical model because people are not suck but are "sick of life or clumsy at living". deurzen cofounded the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling.

Question 31

basis of therapeutic practice

Answer 31

focuses on understanding what it means to be human.

Question 32

existential tradition

Answer 32

seeks a balance btwn recognizing limits and tragic dimension of human existence on one hand and the possibilities and opportunities of human life on the other hand.

Question 33

basic dimensions of human condition

Answer 33

1. capacity for self awareness 2. freedom and repsonsibility 3. identity creation/establishing meaningful relationships w/ others 4. search for meaning, values, goals 5. anxiety as condition of living 6. awareness of death and nonbeing

Question 34

self-awareness

Answer 34

at the root of most other human capacities. decision to expand it is fundamental to human growth.

Question 35

freedom and responsibility

Answer 35

1. freedom to become 2. capacity to reflect 3. capacity to act.

Question 36

inauthenticity

Answer 36

we long for freedom but often try to escape our freedom by defining ourselves as a fixed or static entity, failing to accept personal responsibility

Question 37

existential guilt

Answer 37

being aware of having evaded a commitment, or having chosen not to choose

Question 38

authenticity

Answer 38

living true to our own evaluation of what is a valuable existence for ourselves

Question 39

therapists assist clients in discovering how...

Answer 39

they are avoiding freedom

Question 40

2 centra tasks of the therapist

Answer 40

inviting clients to recognize how they have allowed others to decide for them and encouraging them to take steps towawrd choosing for themselves.

Question 41

striving for identity and relationship to others

Answer 41

each of us would like to discover a self or, to put it more authentically, to create our personal identity.

Question 42

Steps to Striving for Identity & Relationship.

Answer 42

1. Courage to Be (tillich) 2. experience of aloneness 3. experience of relatedness 4. struggling w/ our identity

Question 43

discarding old values

Answer 43

one problem in therapy is clients may discard traditional/imposed values w/out creating other, suitable ones to replace them.

Question 44

existential neurosis

Answer 44

experience of meaninglessness (frankl)

Question 45

existential vacuum

Answer 45

when meaninglessness leads to emptiness and hollowness (frankl)

Question 46

logotherapy

Answer 46

helps clients find meaning in life. therpist's role to point out to clients they can create meaning even in suffering. meaning is created out of an individual's engagement w/ what is valued rather than directly searched for and obtained.

Question 47

existential anxiety

Answer 47

unavoidable result of being confronted w/ the "givens of existence" - death, freedom, choice, isolation, meaninglessness

Question 48

normal anxiety

Answer 48

appropriate response to event being faced. can be powerful motivational force

Question 49

neurotic anxiety

Answer 49

results from failure to move from normal anxiety. anxiety about concrete things disproportionate to the situation. immobilizes the person

Question 50

existential therapy is best considered as an invitation...

Answer 50

to clients to recognize ways in which they are not living fully authentic lives and to make choices that lead to their becoming what they are capable of being

Question 51

main concern of extential therapists

Answer 51

helping people reclaim and reown their lives

Question 52

task of existential therapy

Answer 52

teach clients to listen to what they already know about themselves

Question 53

4 essential aims of existential-humanistic therapy

Answer 53

1. help clients become more present 2. assist clients in identifying ways they block themselves from being prsent 3. challenge clients to assume responsibility for life design 4. encourage clients to choose more expanded ways of being

Question 54

restricted existence

Answer 54

limited awareness of self and vague about nature of problems

Question 55

client's role

Answer 55

encouraged to assume responsbility for way of living. take actions on insight.

Question 56

relationship btwn therapist and client

Answer 56

relationship is of central prominence. delves deeply into world as perceived and experienced by client

Question 57

I/it

Answer 57

relation to time and space, necessary starting place for self

Question 58

I/Thou

Answer 58

essential for connecting self to spirit and, in so doing, achieving true dialogue.

Question 59

existential therapy not technique oriented

Answer 59

practitioners prefer discription, understanding, exploration of client's subjective reality, as opposed to diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis

Question 60

phases of existential counseling

Answer 60

1. initial: identify and clarify assumptions about world. 2. middle: examine source and authority of present value system. leads to insight/restructuring 3. final phase: put what clients are learning into action

Question 61

target populations

Answer 61

people coping w/ developmental crises, experiencing grief & loss, confronting death, facing a major life decision

Question 62

presence

Answer 62

both a condition for therapy to occur and a goal of therapy

Question 63

not technique-oriented

Answer 63

though existential therapists may apply techniques from other orientations, their interventions are guided by a philosophical framework about what it means to be human

Question 64

identity societyy

Answer 64

“Identity Society”— living in an continuously changing, insecure world, with diminishing personal identity and cultural stability

Question 65

ontology

Answer 65

the study of being. The main ontological question for humanity is: what does it mean to be human in a short period of eternity, in a vast and random universe? According to existentialism, the purpose of life is not given beforehand. Who I am, who I can become, and what I should do and how I should do it are all given as questions, which are continuously in the process of being answered throughout life.

Question 66

human nature

Answer 66

The basic element of human nature is DASEIN— Being-in-the-world (German: Da = here; sein = to be or being). Each of us has an inherent need to exist in the world into which we are born, and to achieve a conscious and unconscious sense of ourselves as an autonomous and distinct entity; the stronger this Dasein, the stronger the personality.

Question 67

dasein

Answer 67

The world exists from a particular subjective perspective which is unique to each individual. Dasein is the primary driver in life; other drives are abstractions. Dasein is a personal matter, no one else can tell an individual how or what to be in the world. A very practical application of CEDU-624 4 this is the Mid-Life-Crisis most people face—the loss of meaning, and sometimes bizarre behavior to rediscover ourselves.

Question 68

3 modes of dasein

Answer 68

Umwelt (“World around”): this is the internal and external objects which form our physiological world. It is the world into which we are born and includes the world of physical needs. ii. Mitwelt (“with-world”): this is the social world which involves other people. It is the need to form personal relationships for their own sake, not to sublimate a drive. iii. Eigenwelt (“own world”): this psychological world of relationship to oneself, and to one’s own values and potentials—knowing we are the center of our existence.

Question 69

2 states of existence

Answer 69

Authentic Existence: I am accurately aware of myself, of my world, and know my choices are mine. ii. Inauthentic Existence: I am aware of myself merely as others see me, and allow others to determine who I am.

Question 70

psychotherapy

Answer 70

1. Goals of psychotherapy: a. to enable clients to find ways of implementing their examined and internalized values in a concrete way. b. to live a purposeful existence. c. To recover repressed Dasein. d. To integrate the Daimonic (like Jung’s Shadow) into consciousness. e. Recapture lost will (the will to meaning). f. Take responsibility for one’s own life. g. Affirm those choices which lead to fulfillment of innate potentials.

Question 71

therapeutic process

Answer 71

a. Like Carl Rogers’ concept, this involves a genuine, empathic relationship with the patient. b. Various techniques may be used. c. Primary goal is to engage the patient’s will and ability to choose. d. Intentionality is raised by direct questions: “What do you wish from me today?” e. Therapist must be flexible and use the client’s constructs and language. f. Therapist does not impose a single theoretical framework on all humans. Therapist must not become an agent of social conformity. Conforming to outside mores causes a loss in Dasein. h. Excessive emphasis on the past can only erode the patient’s sense of responsibility.

Question 72

3 phases of therapy

Answer 72

1. INITIAL PHASE: Identifying and clarifying the client’s assumptions about the world. 2. MIDDLE PHASE: Examine the source and authority of the client’s present value systems. 3. FINAL PHASE: Take what the client is learning and put it into action.

Question 73

transference

Answer 73

Assuming responsibility is threatening to a person who has lost Dasein. This fear stimulates resistance. Affection for the client is necessary and desirable aspect of therapy, but the counselor needs to be careful of counter transference and the trap of working through one’s own issues with a client. One clue to keep in mind—If you are working harder than the client, there is something wrong with the picture.